McLellan pulls no punches, calls out Sharks

May 16, 2011SHARKS PAGESHARKS VIDEONHL PAGEVANCOUVER PAGESERIES SCHEDULEGAME 1 BOX SCORE
Tim Panaccio
CSNCalifornia.com

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Hockey coaches often look at video after losses to sift through the bad in search of the good.There wasnt anything from Game 1 against the Canucks that Sharks coach Todd McLellan felt was good enough to build upon when these teams meet Wednesday night in the Western Conference Final. If we dont perform better physically and mentally in Game 2, we will end up with the same results, McLellan predicted.That result being a 3-2 loss on Sunday.
REWIND: Sharks listless, fall 3-2 in Game 1
Its about being sharper and winning more battles, Dany Heatley said. We had opportunities to get it in deep and we didnt do that.No one -- and McLellan emphasized that -- played up to his standards. Not Heatley. Not Logan Coutures line, which he labeled as sluggish. Not Joe Pavelskis line, of which he said, Pav has had better nights, as well.McLellan didnt think Devin Setoguchi played very well, either. Hes got the ability to make a difference with a shot, McLellan said of Setoguchi. You have to be in position. You have to be setting yourself up for all those to be factors.
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The one factor that cant be overlooked is that, as the game progressed, Vancouvers speed on the flanks off the breakout was better while San Jose struggled to get up ice on what looked like tired legs.We were slow, McLellan said. We didnt get to the battles we needed to get to and when we got there, quite frankly, we were out-battled. Simple as that. I cant paint any more of a picture of that -- and that has to change.Not many Sharks skated on Tuesday. That might have been because of the taste in their mouths after losing a lead for the third time in four games. Actually, the Sharks lost the lead twice, but it was the blown lead in the final period that did them in.A lot of what I saw on tape today was what I thought happened last night, Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. Us having the puck in the neutral zone and doing absolutely nothing with it.
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Well, they did something. They turned it over. When you start with the puck, youre conserving energy by not chasing it.Its managing the puck, putting it in the right area, so you feel good about your game, and not all your energy is wasted in the defensive zone, McLellan said, echoing what many of this players said that the Sharks spent too much of the game pinned inside their own blue line.Somehow, the Sharks had no jam in the third period, coming off a remarkable five-save scrum they got from goalie Antti Niemi at the end of the second period, a sequence that should have given them carryover momentum.Vancouvers Daniel Sedin admitted it took him by surprise, that the Canucks had the momentum that final period and not the Sharks.We were down, Sedin said. But we made that extra push in the third. When you are up a goal its a tough lead to have. Are we going to sit back or go forward? Its a fine line. They probably sat back a little too much and we got the goal.That posturing bothered the Sharks.There's four teams left and we didn't play like one of the best four teams in the league, Couture said. You can put out any excuses, but it was definitely us that lost that game. They didn't really do anything out of the ordinary. It's one we didn't play well.Defenseman Douglas Murray, never one to mince words, stood with his arms folded outside the dressing room and let it be known he wasnt particularly happy, saying the Sharks had a serious letdown coming off the exhilarating Game 7 victory over Detroit in the conference semis.Were in the conference finals right now, Murray said with some amount of emphasis in his voice. You have to raise your game and we went the wrong way. We came out pretty good. Start? Northing wrong with the start.
PHT: Five thoughts on Sharks-Canucks Game 1
But like I have been saying. It takes 60 minutes to win against these teams. You let up and they punish you. It wasnt so much that the Sharks sat on a 2-1 lead to begin the third as much as they seemed unprepared physically to finish what they started against a Canucks team that is now 7-0 on home ice in playoff openers under coach Alain Vigneault. We havent been aggressive enough, Murray said, when asked about the Sharks' recent third periods.We play better when we are aggressive. Hard on the forecheck. Our forecheck is what made us successful. Offensive zone time and we didnt get enough of that. Its being sharp. We gave up a lot of puck possessions off our sticks. We turned the puck over. Once you get tired and play too much in the defensive zone, you dont play as fast. Thats where McLellan found something positive to point out. The good news is we had a 21 lead in the third period, McLellan said. We lost it. But we definitely had our B-game on display. We'd like to find that A-game again. Preferably, before the Sharks head home on Thursday. Tim Panaccio is the NHL Insider for CSNPhilly.com E-mail him at tpanotch@comcast.net